“In order to foster language development, the exposure has to be person-to-person; screen time doesn’t count for learning a language in young children.”

Perry Klass, M.D. — The New York Times, July 10, 2017

Zid Zid is not just another app for a child.

We believe language is a spirit that can be harnessed, and during early childhood is the perfect time, and we believe, done together, is best.

More than a language learning platform, Zid Zid a mindset and an opportunity, for you and the preschool children in your class. It’s an opportunity to open doors, and to connect with each child, connect with parents, with the Zid Zid online community, and with the global community at large, all while strengthening kindergarten readiness.

There is no right or wrong way to implement Zid Zid. It’s designed to be put into action, the learning as you see fit, incorporating concepts that dovetail with concepts you currently teach. Zid Zid is accessible at any point and is easy to use.

To get you started, we’ve designed this handy roadmap to guide you. We are so excited to
have you on this journey with us.

We firmly believe in learning a language through play, done together. Here are nine powerful reasons and benefits as to why.

Being a preschool teacher gives you unlimited freedom to explore parts of yourself that thrive from childlike experiences. With languages, it’s no different. Refresh your imagination and creative skills by exploring learning a new language together, implementing exciting activities, and reaching learning outcomes together.

Embodies A Lifelong Learner Outlook

Understands This Might Be A Child’s 1St Step In A New Language

Embraces This Might Be Her/His 1st Step In A New Language

Appreciates The Fundamental Cognitive Pathways Being Built

Keeps Kindergarten Readiness As A Core

Recognizes Technology As A Tool

Doesn’t Worry About Being Perfect

Doesn’t Worry About Perfect Pronunciation

Knows How To Plan, And Keeps Goals In Mind

Knows Zid Zid Is An Available Resource At All Times

Creates A Spanish Corner, If Inspired

Starts With Stories And Songs

Explores Zid Zid Activities

Taps Into Her Best Activities

Develops New Activities

Finds Small Moments To Weave Learning In

Doesn’t Force The Learning

Works Towards Repetition Without Boredom

Connects With Zid Zid Fb Community For Support & Ideas

Embraces Learning Together

Inspires And Guides Parents

Shares Learning With Community At Large

Understands Learning A Language Is A Journey

And, A Zid Zid Teacher Has Fun

Why do I/we start?

We believe songs and stories are one of the best pathways for learning. We also believe songs and stories are something the children can learn easily and quickly and can be transformative in any classroom. Our goals are built around empowering you and your class to learn new songs and stories easily and play along the way. Songs and stories are a great way to share knowledge with parents and grandparents, too. With a focus on songs and stories, we’ve built everything you need to be inspired and ready, in your classroom.

What you can do with a word

Here is what bringing this vocabulary into your classroom might look like:

Learning Numbers Through Creative Play

Read: Zid Zid Numbers Story, or watch the video (3 times is recommended)

Sing: Zid Zid Numbers Song together (as many times as you see fit!)

Stop and pause along the way. Listen to the new sounds, ask what’s happening, notice details. Have fun, as this is story or singing time.

Read on for more activities!

Next, time for a supporting activity. What will it be? Movement, art, sound? Here are three examples.

Movement: Movement Counting

What: Through movement and cognitive function, this gets the body and numbers moving.

Suggested Time: 5 minutes, right after a morning meeting, and 5 minutes again in the afternoon

Gather the group together in a circle and get ready for movement.

1. Jump _x_ times!

2. Take _x_ steps!

3. Turn around _x_ times!

Change up the movement. Change up the number of those movements they do. What movement patterns can they make?

Art: Pipe Cleaner Counting

What: This simple activity is perfect to strengthen fine motor capabilities and number recognition.

Suggested Time: 20-30 minutes

Materials needed: Colorful plastic beads, pipe cleaners.

1. With beads and pipe cleaners, help children shape pipe cleaners into numbers 1-10

2. If too difficult, pre-shape the pipe cleaners

3. Place corresponding number of beads on each pipecleaners number

4. Display and share the work, re-visit and discuss what was created

TIP: Make sure to leave “8” slightly open to make it easy to add beads.

Sound: Do You Hear What I Say?

What: Time to listen, and respond with a sound based activity that supports collaboration abilities.

Suggested Time: 15 minutes

Begin by gathering students together.

1. Call out numbers in Spanish

2. Allow a few seconds to think

3. Then give a signal for them to start clapping that number

4. Example: CINCO … class claps 5 times!

5. Reverse roles

Starting Out: Preparing

Begin by going over the Teacher Welcome Package

With your iPad, make sure wifi is working, install the app, and log in

Review the different Quests and choose the one you like

Watch the Quest intro, story and song videos, get familiar with new vocab

Review activities based on the song and story of that Quest

Choose your favorite activities

Create your own activities

Check in the Zid Zid FB Community for more ideas

Plan activities around learning a song or story

Prepare activities

Next, here are four ways to weave the learning in, which can be repeated throughout the year.

INTRO (10 minutes)

In your own way, introduce Spanish to your class

Watch any one of the three videos together

To complement this, use repetition. Here is an example:

Play an echo game: as you repeat the words, have kids repeat back to you the same amount of times. Try using emotions in your voice like happy and sad

DEEP DIVE GROUP PROJECT (15, 30, or 45 minutes)

Choose either the story or song as your starting point

Watch the video together, pause at important parts

Once done with the video, discuss the content and ask questions:

What did you see?

Raise your hand if you heard…?

What happened in the story/song?

Pause the class OR continue the discussion into the activity

Have an in-depth, tie-in activity ready to go

MORNING MEETING + TRANSITION TIMES (5 minutes)

Verbally weave in any of the new vocabularies during morning meeting, or during transition times, or during snack time. Two examples might be:

Colors: Use to call the kids up by a table or by what they’re wearing

Numbers: Use how old they are or give them numbers for a day, and use throughout the day

INDEPENDENT LEARNING (Open)

Set up any Zid Zid print materials or your own resources, placed in independent learning stations, or in a designated Spanish language area

Here are a few examples of Zid Zid in action, either our suggested activities, or a creative
teacher interpretation! We hope this inspires you to think “outside the box” when bringing
Zid Zid into your classroom.

ART/Body Parts Quest, Zid Zid Body Parts Printable, Cincinnati Country Day School, Cincinnati, OH
Children are engaged a Zid Zid printable which focuses on the identifying the parts of the body in Spanish. They used scissors, glue, and colorful drawing materials to complete their mission.

NATURE/Numbers Quest, Nature Counting Book, Xavier Montessori, Cincinnati, OH
Children headed outside to locate interesting nature items in multiples. When back in the classroom, they were given blank books, printed numbers, glue, and scissors, and each child worked to assemble a nature count book based on his or her outdoor findings.

ART/Body Parts Quest, Body Collage, Xavier Montessori, Cincinnati, OH
Children are working off a hand drawn guide by their teacher, to identify the parts of the body. They are doing this by using cut-out magazine pieces they found of the different body party, gluing them into place onto their paper, then working to write the name each part in Spanish.

GAME/Shapes Quest, Sorting Shapes, Goddard School of St. Louis
This creative teacher made a large paper game board based on each of the shapes. From there, she created a bag of smaller shapes. She would choose a shape from the bag, have the children look at it, call out its Spanish name, and then they would place it in the appropriate box. She repeated this game until all the shapes were placed properly.

MORNING MEETING/Body Parts Quest, Feet Discussion, Cincinnati Country Day School, Cincinnati, OH
This teacher incorporated body parts into her morning meeting, by discussing the shapes of everyone’s feet and toes. Each child had the opportunity to come to the large paper to draw their “pies”. A variety of colors were
used!

ART/Colors Quest, Bird Feather Color Mixing, YMCA Christ Child/Head Start, Cincinnati, OH
Inspired by the Bird Feather Color Mixing activity, this class painted fathers using tempera paints. Each child was given red and yellow to make orange, and yellow and blue to make green. Once all the feathers were dry, they were cut out and placed onto the bird using washi tape, along with decorative feathers for a fun touch.

In addition to the power of stories and songs, we believe in achieving goals, and helping your class stay motivated, and on track. There are 120 core vocabulary words, 120 creative activities, plus vocabulary in the stories and songs, and all the creative activities you will invent! That’s an amazing amount of learning. To stay on track and celebrate growth, you have a Zid Zid Growth Chart, Zid Zid Stickers, and a Zid Zid Vocabulary Poster.

Your Classroom Growth Chart

Hang Growth Chart and Vocab Poster

Chart your class’s progress

Use Zid Zid stickers for achievements

Recording a Child’s Growth

Track progress in the Zid Zid Assessment Booklet

Keep work created in each child’s portfolio

Capture learning through photos and video, and share with the Zid Zid Community

End of Year Sharing

Display work during Day of the Dead, Open House, Christmas, and Cinco de Mayo

Share each child’s assessment sheet in each portfolio

Share final portfolios at the end of the year

Hold an end of year performance for parents, siblings and grandparents

Share your final performance with the Zid Zid Community

Share certificates for each child

Parent Letter

Bringing parents in is an important part of the learning journey. Here is a letter you can print and share with parents, inviting them to join in.

Welcome to Spanish Learning with Zid Zid!

What is Zid Zid?
We help raise smart global kids by empowering preschool children to learn other languages together with their teachers and parents.

How Will My Child Benefit?
By learning a second language through multi-sensory play, your child will gain numerous benefits such as increased vocabulary in Spanish and English, strengthened fine and gross motor skills, openness to new cultures and new ideas, better problem-solving skills and more!

How Can You Help?
The best part about Zid Zid is you don’t need to know Spanish to play with your child. We’ve designed playful activities for the family to do at home. Identify the colors of the food as you make dinner, sing a song together, and connect by reading our animated storybooks. It’s all about PLAY! You can access all of Zid Zid activities, songs, stories on our exclusive site.

Your Login InformationURL: https://app.zidzid.com
Username: Your email address on file with the school/or use this link to opt-in
Password: hello

Importance of Community

We believe in learning together.

We believe little steps together can lead to big learning.

We believe parents benefit from your guidance.

We believe in sharing our work.

We believe in tolerance of other cultures.

We believe in being a part of the global community.

The Zid Zid Teacher Manifesto

Let us understand we are immensely powerful.

Through our gifts as teachers, we can bring Spanish to life.

Let us create a bond with the unknown we are about to enter, even if scary at times.

There is no limit to our curiosity and possibilities.

VÁMONOS! Let’s Go!

Don’t worry about being perfect.

Start with stories and songs.

Share and connect with your community, online + off!

Have fun, this is about play.

Who is Behind Zid Zid?

Started by a husband-wife duo who are both trilingual, and have raised two trilingual children, Zid Zid is a team of educators, designers, language experts, and technologists passionate about creating meaningful and impactful learning outcomes for little ones. We merge the best practice in early childhood education with the best in technology to foster a love of learning languages and much more.

Will My Class Become Fluent?

We aim to eliminate the fear of learning a foreign language during the most critical period of a child’s brain development and set a strong foundation for future learning. Our goal is to inspire you and your class to develop a love for languages. Remember, our focus is on exposure, experiences, and the amazing journey of learning a language. It’s not about outcomes, memorization, or fluency.

What happens if Spanish learning ends after kindergarten?

We now know how critical languages are in the early years, which is no less important that other skills such as academics, play, the arts, and sports. Not only that, but second language learning creates a deeper understanding of and appreciation for humanity and culture, which enriches anyone’s life and personal experiences at any age. As their teacher, you have the unique opportunity to be the very first exposure to another language for a child, and that child will most likely remember this experience for his or her life.

What if no one around us is speaking Spanish?

This could be said for the importance of play, music, sports, art, cooking, the global community at large, in addition to other extracurriculars. If no one around me is playing baseball, then learning how to throw a ball has no purpose.

What Academic Standards and Methods Does Zid Zid Follow?

One of the many tools we use to hone and create our lessons are the standards put forth by the American Council for Teaching Foreign Languages. We also incorporate the genius of TPR Storytelling ( Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling or TPRS ), which is a method of teaching foreign languages developed in the 1990’s. We also adhere to Kindergarten Readiness initiatives put forth by Early Learning and Development Standards established at state and national levels.

What if no one around us is speaking Spanish?

This thought could be said for the importance of play, music, sports, art, cooking, the global community at large, and other extracurriculars. If no one around me is playing baseball, then learning how to throw a ball has no purpose.

What Academic Standards and Methods Does Zid Zid Follow?

One of the many tools we use to hone and create our lessons are the standards put forth by the American Council for Teaching Foreign Languages. We also incorporate the genius of the TPRS method.